Page 45 of Hunted
“Try to keep calm when we get there,” he said for the millionth time.“Don’t go wigging out and break the curse breaker before he has a chance to assess you.They’re valuable.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered.“Perfectly under control.”Which was worrying.Acacia must know what we were up to.And if that was true, then why wasn’t she trying to stop us?
“Sure,” Sanka said skeptically.“You’re fine.”
Which was fair.I had never beenlessfine in my life.But what choice did I have but to see this through?
Of course, Richard was completely unable to leave it alone and accept the lie the way the saner people in the car were doing.“You don’tlookfine, love,” he said cheerfully.“You look like someone just offered you your soul back and you don’t know what to do with it.”
I rubbed my palms against my jeans.“I probably don’t have a soul anymore.”
“Youdo,” Sanka said.“It’s just a little...scuffed.We can dust ‘er off and you’ll be right as rain.”
“I’m serious,” I said flatly.I had, unfortunately, given this a lot of thought.I wasn’t sure I was even reallymeanymore.And I was afraid I’d lost more than just my personality.
“We are serious too,” Richard said, pulling me out of my thoughts.“Which is terrifying, honestly.Who wants to beserious?Ugh.I try to avoid the condition at all costs.”He feigned a disgusted full-body shiver.
I sighed.
The forest closed in tighter the farther we drove.Branches knotted overhead.Fog pooled low to the ground.The road turned to gravel, then dirt, then something older and less cooperative—ice aged rock cleared with dynamite, maybe?My teeth rattled with each bump.
In the far back row of seats, Martina silently catalogued our surroundings, her hands caressing the pile of weapons littered around her on the seat.The initial plan had been to send Sanka and Martina alone to pick up the curse breaker and bring him back to The Fox—an escort to ensure secrecy and safety.Hopefully no one knew Robin had hidden the curse breaker away and was now calling him to her.But if they did, powerful people would gleefully try to steal him away for their own uses—including the syndicate shifters she’d liberated him from in the first place.
I had insisted on coming because I didn’t want to wait for them to return.I needed to know if the curse breaker could break my bond to Acacia.Delaying even a day would give her that much more opportunity to make me hurt someone again.Or to sabotage the rebel court in some other way.Robin had agreed to go along with Acacia’s additional assassination plans, but that didn’t mean Acacia wouldn’t act out again just for the fun of it.
“Almost there,” Sanka murmured.
I didn’t ask how he knew.Wherever we were going, it was a well-kept secret.And I didn’t want to know any more of the rebel court’s secrets if I could help it.Because what I knew, Acacia could easily read from my mind.Maybe that was why she was being so quiet right now—she’d love a curse breaker of her very own.
The car stopped in front of a crooked wattle fence.The trees beyond it twisted sideways, like they'd grown under duress.A warped mailbox also leaned sideways, in the opposite direction.The sign beside it was scrawled with the words:Leave or we’ll turn you into a frog.(And we love boiled frog legs!)
“Subtle,” Richard said in a dry voice.
Sanka huffed.“Bog witches,” he said, flatly.“They don’t get along with normal witch covens, don’t want to live with humans, and don’t believe in the syndicate.Most of them have sworn off society all together.”He sat up and grabbed a duffle bag stuffed with random items that made no sense to me—canned goods, various kinds of imported marijuana seeds, cheap liquor.“Complete fucking nutjobs,” he muttered.“But it’s a good place to store a newly imported curse breaker for a day or two, if you’re trying to cover your tracks.They might be fucking nuts, but theyarepowerful.No one fucks with them unless they absolutely have to.”He gestured to the stacked-up packages of toilet paper near me.“Grab those, will ‘ya?”
Martina got out without a word, focused on the job, as always.
I followed her, three mega-packs of toilet paper tucked under each arm.I felt absurd, every sense on high-alert, poised for disaster and hoping this stranger we’d come to fetch could fix me...all while toting around a bunch of bathroom supplies.
The air changed the moment we crossed the property line.Not colder, exactly, but...heavier.Like the swamp around us resented our presence and had decided to try to crush us under a wave of humid air and the scent of rotting vegetation.This was certainly a good place to live if you wanted people to leave you alone.
Odin landed on the hood of the car with a harshcaw, then hopped to the ground.Something dangled from his beak—a blackened strip of leather with a smoking sigil scorched on it.
I awkwardly shuffled my packages around and reached for it.He dropped the still-warm thing into my hand.Richard leaned in.“Huh.That’s either a warning or a receipt.”
“Both,” Sanka said, sounding unimpressed.They’re warning us to behave, but they can see we’ve brought their goods.So, it’s just for show.”
We stepped forward together, following a narrow path that branched off the wider bumpy “road” and led further into the swampy woods.Eventually, it spat us out near a rickety-looking tower that apparently doubled as a house.Barely.It was a rusted metal spire that leaned like it had been cursed.Maybe spelled to defy gravity.Vines covered the walls.The door was cracked and moss-covered, but it opened before we knocked.
The inside smelled like ash and mint, and a hint of peat.In the center of the room stood a...person of some sort.They looked like the woods had grown a skeleton and taught it to walk.Tangled grey hair, one eye too bright, one too dull.Patchwork clothing.No shoes.Their aura shimmered like oil on water.I was new to this whole reading auras thing, but...it felt like too many layers, too many persona’s folded into one.The constant hunger inside me soured, as if I’d been looking forward to dinner all day only to be presented with a plate of maggots.
Not edible.Point taken.
“Finally,” the person said.“Took you long enough.”
Sanka held up a hand in greeting.“Rags.You’re looking delightfully ominous, as always.”
“I wasn’t expecting her to sendyou,demon dick,” they said with a huff.
